Jets vs. Texans: Full Houston Week 11 Preview

The Houston Texans won't have to go on the cart yet after a big win over the Cincinnati Bengals. That's sure to have all fans feeling happy.

Not only did the victory lift the spirits of a beaten down fanbase, it also tangibly kept them alive in the division race for the dreadful AFC South crown.

At 4-5, the Texans are in a tie for first place. Despite a challenging remaining schedule, a clear and reasonable path is available for them to take advantage of and make the playoffs.

Playoffs? Yeah it does sound weird Mr. Mora.

If the Texans are able to take two out of their next three games against the New York Jets, New Orleans Saints and Buffalo Bills, that would put them at 6-6 heading into a guaranteed loss against New England.

After that stretch, their last three games of the season will come against AFC South opponents.

If the Texans are able to take two of those three games, then they would finish the season with an 8-8 record.

Seven wins might even be enough to win the AFC South, but I'm comfortable saying that eight wins would definitely take the division.

Relying on this team to take four out of those six games mentioned seems like a stretch, but which among those teams is unbeatable or even pretty good? The Bills and Jets are average, but after that the other four teams mentioned all have a sub-.500 record.

Injuries or an unexpected bad game could certainly change things, but the Texans have a decent chance of making the playoffs for the first time since 2012.

Week 10 Results and Recap

Associated Press

The Texans probably won't win a championship this year, but defense sure won them a big road game at the previously undefeated Cincinnati Bengals.

Houston held Cincinnati to its lowest rushing total, passing total and point total of the season in a dominant defensive effort.

J.J. Watt, John Simon and Christian Covington each had a sack, Whitney Mercilus continued his strong play with three tackles for a loss and corners Johnathan Joseph and Kevin Johnson combined for four passes defensed. They finally looked like the defense many fans expected to see at the beginning of the season.

Without the amazing defensive performance, they could have been blown out because the offense, in particular the running game, did absolutely nothing.

The Texans rushed for a pathetic 3.3 yards per attempt against Cincinnati and were held under 100 yards rushing for the eighth time out of their nine games. Their only game with over 100 rushing yards this season is an 186-yard performance against Tampa Bay during a Week 3 victory.

T.J. Yates played admirably considering the situation, but the Texans quarterbacks combined to complete just barely over 50 percent of their passes (17-of-33), were held well below 200 yards passing, threw an interception and had a 66.7 quarterback rating.

That performance obviously won't be good enough to win most games.

To score even just the one touchdown that they did, it took a spectacular catch by a wide receiver with unbelievable ball skills to make a top 10 play of the year.

It wasn't a total team victory so to speak, but obviously compared to the miserable performances against Atlanta and Miami, we'll take a win no matter how ugly it might have been.

With the victory, the Texans moved back into a tie for first place with the Indianapolis Colts. The Colts own the tiebreaker with a win in Houston in October, so technically the Texans are in second, but seven games remain for both teams to figure out the division race.

AFC South Standings

Indianapolis Colts (4-5)
Houston Texans (4-5)
Jacksonville Jaguars (3-6)
Tennessee Titans (2-7)

News and Notes

Brandon Wade/Associated Press

T.J. Yates Will Probably Start, Brandon Weeden Claimed off Waivers

In a move necessitated by the injury to Brian Hoyer, the Texans picked up a quarterback this week to serve as T.J. Yates' backup in case he has to start.

In a very similar situation to his Week 11 start this year, Yates made his first start in the 2011 season in Week 13, in a home game against a playoff-caliber opponent, the week after a close road win.

In that victory over the Falcons, Yates didn't throw an interception, hit a big play to Andre Johnson and did just enough to win the game. This year's Jets have a better defense than that Falcons team, but Yates was successful four years ago in a very similar situation.

The idea of having Brandon Weeden on the roster and possibly taking snaps is a scary thing, but remember he's basically just the emergency backup in case Hoyer and Yates can't play, and probably won't be on the team next season.

Through three starts with the Dallas Cowboys, Weeden actually posted career-best numbers for completion percentage and quarterback rating, but the Texans will obviously be in big trouble if he ever has to play.

However, keep in mind whenever any team gets to the point where they have to play their third-string quarterback, it's almost meaningless who the quarterback is because the team will likely lose every game they play in that situation regardless of the actual player.

Jadeveon Clowney Expects to Play Sunday

From Dale Robertson of the Houston Chronicle, former first overall pick Jadeveon Clowney expects to play on Sunday unless he suffers a setback before the start of the game.

"Asked if he was '100 percent' recovered from the lower back issues that kept him out of the Cincinnati game, Clowney replied, 'I’m just glad to be back. I’m looking forward to playing against the Jets.'"

Thanks to a timely bye week, Clowney only ended up missing one game with the back injury suffered against Tennessee, but his ability to stay on the field has been a big issue. Out of 25 total possible games, Clowney has played in just 11 and started only eight since being drafted in 2014.

Despite missing two games this season, Clowney still ranks third on the team in quarterback hurries as a pass-rusher and is the Texans' second-highest-rated run defender by Pro Football Focus.

They can't afford to move Whitney Mercilus back to strictly a reserve role, but the Texans need Clowney back on the field. Hopefully Romeo Crennel will find a package to put Clowney, Mercilus and J.J. Watt on the field at the same time.

Latest Injury News

Gary Landers/Associated Press

Brian Hoyer

The veteran quarterback is going through the concussion protocol after leaving the Cincinnati game early last week and is currently considered questionable for the upcoming game against the Jets. While there's still a chance that Hoyer could play, some media reports already believe that he'll miss this game.

Statistically Hoyer has been pretty solid this season, though it's tough to ignore that a decent chunk of his stats were put up during the second half of blowouts.

In seven games played this season, Hoyer has thrown 13 touchdowns to four interceptions and has a 92.9 quarterback rating. His quarterback rating is currently better than those of Matt Ryan, Russell Wilson and Cam Newton.

Hoyer also ranks inside the top 10 in QBR and interception percentage.

Beating the Jets will be tough regardless of whom the starting quarterback is under center, but Hoyer clearly represents their best chance and not having him available will be tough to overcome.

Kareem Jackson

The Texans' dual-position defensive back hasn't played since Week 6 after suffering an ankle injury against Jacksonville. What could be considered positive though is that Jackson is listed as questionable this week whereas he was considered either to be "out" or doubtful at this point the last several weeks.

Against a team with talented receivers like Brandon Marshall and Eric Decker, the Texans could certainly use the help of Jackson if he's able to go on Sunday:

"

.@HoustonTexans Wednesday Practice Report (11/18): pic.twitter.com/CrIQ3lPKxX

— Texans PR (@TexansPR) November 18, 2015"

Key Matchups

Bill Kostroun/Associated Press

Muhammad Wilkerson vs. the Texans' Interior Offensive Line

J.J. Watt deservedly gets a ton of attention and praise for the job he does as a pass-rusher from a 3-4 defensive end position, but Muhammad Wilkerson of the Jets has been excelling as well in that role. If Wilkerson played in a league without Watt, he'd probably be regarded as the best 3-4 end in the NFL.

Through nine games so far, Wilkerson ranks second in sacks with seven, second in hits on the quarterback with 16 and third in quarterback hurries—ahead of Watt—with 28 among all NFL 3-4 defensive ends.

Despite looking like a sieve early in the season, overall the Texans have done a decent job in pass protection this year and rank 17th in the league in sacks allowed.

Center Ben Jones and guard Brandon Brooks both have positive pass-block ratings from Pro Football Focus for the season, but Wilkerson is capable of ruining their game plan if the guards and center don't play well.

Stopping Chris Ivory

The Texans did a great job of stopping the run against what had been a solid rushing team in Cincinnati last week, but will face another stiff test this week.

Jets running back Chris Ivory has bounced around the league but has seemed to find a home in New York, where the offense is built around the need to run the ball well.

Going into Week 11, Ivory ranks inside the top 10 for total rushing yards, rushing yards per game, rushing yards after contact and rushing touchdowns, so he'll be provide another challenge for the improving run defense of the Texans.

Replacing the awful-tackling Rahim Moore at safety has really improved the Texans' run defense and team tackling, but they'll need to continue to hustle and rally to the football because Ivory will be hard to bring down with just one defender.

Brandon Marshall vs. Johnathan Joseph

The veteran wide receiver ranks 10th in the league coming into this week in both receptions and receiving yards, so Johnathan Joseph has another big assignment in front of him.

Eric Decker has had a solid season as well, but Joseph needs to be lined up against Brandon Marshall the majority of the time when both players are on the field.

Joseph has allowed just 100 combined receiving yards against him over his last three games and hasn't allowed a touchdown since their Week 5 game against Indianapolis.

Texans X-Factor of the Week

Seth Wenig/Associated Press

Texans X-Factor of the Week: DeAndre Hopkins

Perhaps the Texans player facing the toughest individual matchup this week will be star receiver DeAndre Hopkins up against All-Pro cornerback Darrelle Revis.

Most weeks the opposing corner isn't much of a concern because of how unstoppable Hopkins can be at times, but Revis is a different animal and just might be the immovable object in this matchup.

Opposing quarterbacks are completing just 46 percent of their passes—ranked second—and have a rating of 44.3—ranked third—when throwing against Revis this season. There's a reason why he got the "Revis Island" nickname.

The Texans have arguably the worst rushing offense in the league and get almost zero production out of their tight ends, so if Hopkins isn't able to win his matchup, then how will they move the ball at all against the Jets?

Going into the start of Week 11, Houston currently ranks 28th in rushing yards, 31st in rushing yards per attempt and 27th in rushing touchdowns. This week it'll face a Jets defense that ranks second in rushing yards allowed, first in rushing touchdowns allowed and that's holding opponents to just 3.9 yards per attempt.

Saying that the Texans won't be able to run the ball against the Jets isn't exactly going out on a limb, so if Revis shuts down Hopkins like he does nearly every other receiver he faces, then how exactly do you think the Texans will move the ball enough to win the game?

Hopkins needs to be spectacular this week.

Prediction: Jets 17, Texans 13

Gary Landers/Associated Press

This isn't a pick that I'll guarantee or call the "lock of the century" like those ridiculous Vegas oddsmakers commercials, but the Jets will probably beat the Texans this week.

That conclusion was reached after not being able to come up with an answer to one question: How will the Texans be able to move the ball on offense against the Jets?

The Texans are one of the worst rushing offenses in the league, while the Jets are one of the best at stopping the run. Revis will at least slow down Hopkins and they might have to start a quarterback who hasn't started for a football team since January 2012.

It wouldn't need to be this extreme, but maybe if the Texans get a defensive effort like they did against Pittsburgh in 2002, where they won with three defensive scores despite gaining only 47 total yards, they could win this game against the Jets.

This game needs to be ugly and they have to get a big defensive performance for the Texans to win because moving the ball against the Jets will be extremely tough based on the matchups.

Prediction: Jets 17, Texans 13

Follow me on Twitter for more news and opinion on the Texans: @sackedbybmac.